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Interviews: The Latest Architecture and News

Zero Energy Residential Unit, ZERU

The International Collaboration office at the Faculty of Engineering Ain Shams University is pleased to announce its 1st International Architectural Design Competition. 

World's Largest Air Purifier Completes Successful Trial Run in Xi'an, China

A 100-meter-tall air purification tower in Xi’an, China – believed to be the world’s largest air purifier – has significantly improved city air quality, results from its preliminary run suggest.

According to researchers from the Institute of Earth Environment at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the tower has managed to produce more than 10 million cubic metres (353 million cubic feet) of clean air per day since it was launched a few months ago. In the 10-square-kilometer (3.86-square-mile) observed area of the city, smog ratings have been reduced to moderate levels even on severely polluted days, an improvement over the city’s previous hazardous conditions.

8 Common Materials You May Not Have Realized Are Sustainable

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Sustainability. A word that, for many of us, has been driven into our minds from the very start of our careers as architects. We have a responsibility to the planet and future generations to design buildings that are socially conscious—from solar panels to triple-glazed windows, we have tried it all.

Ultimately, whether our designs are sustainable comes down to the early decisions we make for the building, with our choice of materials having a huge effect on the overall carbon footprint. With new technologies come new ways of incorporating abundantly found materials into the skin of the building that could reduce the building's embodied energy and enhance the structure's properties.

In this article, we have compiled a list of 8 familiar materials that you wouldn't initially associate with sustainability but which you might consider for your next design.

The SDG Academy Has Launched Free, Graduate-Level Courses on Sustainable Development, Urbanization and Natural Resources

The SDG Academy online education platform recently launched a series of free online courses on topics ranging from sustainable development and urbanization to climate change and the use of natural resources. According to the description on its website, SDG Academy "creates and curates free, top-level courses on sustainable development for students around the world."

Could Cork Be Nature’s Answer to Our Environmental and Construction Needs?

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Unbeknown to many, cork is something of a dark horse when it comes to the environment—a model of a sustainable industry and building material. By its very nature, cork is both recyclable and renewable, as it is the only tree that regenerates its bark, while harvesting that bark causes the tree no harm.

Cork has been sneaking its way into our buildings for many years now; due to its hard-wearing properties it can be found, for example, in the checkerboard flooring of the Library of Congress. Even NASA has been wise to cork's light weight and insulation capacity, using it as an insulator for their space shuttles.

White Arkitekter and Citu Release First Images of Climate Innovation District in Leeds

Scandinavian firm, White Arkitekter, working closely with urban developers Citu, have designed the masterplan for the new Climate Innovation District in Leeds, in the United Kingdom. A central brownfield site in the city will be developed and converted into a sustainable, resilient, mixed-use neighborhood of more than 500 apartments and homes.

Visionary Master Plan Wins Smart City Prize At World Architecture Festival

Due to rapid population and economic growth, Indonesia is facing issues such as land subsidence and rising sea levels. To combat these problems and more, SHAU Architects created a master plan for the Jakarta Jaya Foundation focused on large-scale land reclamation to integrate green space. By addressing impending challenges, SHAU Architects proposal, Jakarta Jaya: the Green Manhattan, won a Smart Cities prize at the World Architecture Festival 2017.

Museum Proposal Displays Floating Figurines in Corten Columns of Light

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Courtesy of Ziad Abi Karam for Shiogumo

The Kharayeb Archaeological Museum (KAM) was designed by Shiogumo in the agricultural lands of the coastal village Kharayeb, in the south of Lebanon. The site-specific museum was commissioned to preserve and enhance the historical, cultural, and public significance by the directors of the archeological mission and site, Dr. Ida Oggiano (Istituto di Studi sul Mediterraneo Antico of CNR, Italy) and Dr. Wissam Khalil (Lebanese University).

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The Science Behind the Next Generation of Wood Buildings

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At a time when engineers, designers, and builders must find solutions for a resource-constrained environment, new wood technology, materials, and science are accelerating efforts to enhance safety and structural performance.

International Building Code requires all building systems, regardless of materials used, to perform to the same level of health and safety standards. These codes have long recognized wood’s performance capabilities and allow its use in a wide range of low- to mid-rise residential and non-residential building types. Moreover, wood often surpasses steel and concrete in terms of strength, durability, fire safety, seismic performance, and sustainability – among other qualities.

Australia's Sunshine Coast Plans for New $900 Million Mixed-Use Development

The Sunshine Coast of Australia’s Yaroomba Beach is about to get a $900 million upgrade. The integrated, mixed-use development will be the first 5-star resort developed on the Sunshine Coast in 30 years. HASSELL has been awarded the work as master planners, architects, and landscape architects for the massive project, focusing on sustainable and ecological goals to ‘touch the ground lightly.'

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Morphosis Hits Construction Milestones Around The World

This Fall, global architecture and design firm, Morphosis has their plate full as four of their projects reach significant construction milestones. From Africa to the Middle East, Europe and the U.S., Morphosis is creating international landmarks that display their values of sustainability and future development. Read on to learn more about what Thom Mayne's team is up to.

HOK's Mercedes-Benz Stadium Will Be the First LEED Platinum-Certified Pro Sports Stadium in the US

HOK's Mercedes-Benz Stadium is officially the first LEED Platinum certified professional sports stadium in the United States. The new home to the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons boasts the highest sports venue LEED score at 88 total points.

There is much more to learn from this stadium than just its unique retractable roof system. The two-million-square-foot venue is an unprecedented model for sustainability and performance innovation. Its notable design solutions conserve water, lighting, and energy.

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Hiroshi Sambuichi: "I Take Something that People Already Like, and Make Them Even More Aware of It"

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In this extended interview from the Louisiana Channel, Japanese architect and experimentalist in sustainable architecture Hiroshi Sambuichi explains how he integrates natural moving materials—sun, water and air—into his architecture. A rare symbiosis of science and nature, each of his buildings are specific to the site and focus on the best orientation and form to harness the power of Earth’s energy, particularly wind. Two of his projects displayed in the video, the Inujima Seirensho Art Museum and the Orizuru Tower, force a contraction of air to make it flow faster and circulate with you through the building, while the Naoshima Hall takes a more sensitive approach due to the nature of the building, reducing the wind’s velocity as it passes.

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Striking Easily Assembled Cabins Will become Symbols for Shelter and Safety Along Remote Trekking Paths

Stockholm-based architecture firm Utopia Arkitekter has designed Skýli, they are bright blue cabins that are popping up in one of the world's most beautiful landscape. The idea came from a desire to develop a structure which could be easily placed along some of the most famous trekking trails in Iceland. Not only are the lodges striking and beautiful in itself, they can be easily constructed and are built to withstand the harshest weather conditions.

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AIA LA Showcases Award Winners After Surge of Submissions

The American Institute of Architects Los Angeles (AIA|LA) just announced the winners of their 2017 Design Awards honoring Los Angeles based architects and architecture. The ceremony took place Monday, October 30th, at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, recognizing each of the winners.

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Competition-Winning Paris Office Park Design to Reintroduce Play into the Workplace

Dutch Firms Team RAU, SeARCH, and karres +brands have been named as one of the winners of the Inventons la Metropole de Grand Paris, the largest European competition for city planning, architecture and public space. Their project, Triango, reinvents Paris’ Triangle de Gonesse into a dynamic and lively business park which promotes sustainability in every sense of the word.

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New York City’s Proposal for the Missing Green-Link in Midtown

The city of New York is connecting all 32-miles of coastline with public amenities, piece by piece. To link the East River’s greenways, the interdisciplinary practice, wHY has submitted an RFP to the New York City Economic Development Corporation for the 1.1-mile long coastal stretch.

The landscape and urban design workshop as part of wHY -- wHY GROUNDS, has tackled the linear site, stretching from 53rd to 61st street, encompassing 1.72-acres of public space. The site is exceptional with its views to Roosevelt Island, the Queensborough Bridge, the Queens/Brooklyn waterfront and down to Lower Manhattan.

Saudi Arabia Plans $500-Billion Futuristic City Billed as "A Startup the Size of a Country"

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has announced ambitious plans to build a $500 billion technological megacity “the size of a country” that will be run entirely of renewable energy sources. Known as NEOM, the innovation hub will cover a 10,232-square-mile (26,500-square-kilometer) area in the northwest of the country along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba. The city is planned to extend into neighboring Egypt and Jordan, making it the first private zone to span three countries.